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Tor Wennesland, U.N. Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process , has been holding extensive talks with both Israel and Hamas over the past 24 hours in an effort to restore peace, a diplomatic source tells Axios.

Driving the news: The source said Wennesland spoke on Sunday to Israel’s National Security Adviser Meir Ben-Shabbat and other senior Israeli security officials as well as Hamas officials and Egyptian intelligence officials.

What they are saying: “The talks the U.N. envoy is having with all parties are in an attempt to restore calm in Gaza and Israel, and avoid another devastating full-scale war," the diplomatic source said.

  • An Israeli official didn't deny the call between the U.N. envoy and Israel national security adviser took place but claimed: "There are no cease fire talks. The operation in Gaza continues."
  • Secretary of State Antony Blinken wrote on Twitter what seems to be a toughening of the U.S. position: "All parties need to deescalate tensions – the violence must end immediately"

Blinken spoke both the with Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry andQatari foreign minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani about the violence.

Between the lines: Both countries have pushed for calm in the region.

  • Blinken also spoke to the Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan and discussed the ongoing efforts to bring the current violence to an end.

Go deeper: Israel to continue Gaza operation, officials rule out cease-fire for now

Transcripts show George Floyd told police "I can't breathe" over 20 times

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Newly released transcripts of bodycam footage from the Minneapolis Police Department show that George Floyd told officers he could not breathe more than 20 times in the moments leading up to his death.

Why it matters: Floyd's killing sparked a national wave of Black Lives Matter protests and an ongoing reckoning over systemic racism in the United States. The transcripts "offer one the most thorough and dramatic accounts" before Floyd's death, The New York Times writes.

The state of play: The transcripts were released as former officer Thomas Lane seeks to have the charges that he aided in Floyd's death thrown out in court, per the Times. He is one of four officers who have been charged.

  • The filings also include a 60-page transcript of an interview with Lane. He said he "felt maybe that something was going on" when asked if he believed that Floyd was having a medical emergency at the time.

What the transcripts say:

  • Floyd told the officers he was claustrophobic as they tried to get him into the squad car.
  • The transcripts also show Floyd saying, "Momma, I love you. Tell my kids I love them. I'm dead."
  • Former officer Derek Chauvin, who had his knee on Floyd's neck for over eight minutes, told Floyd, "Then stop talking, stop yelling, it takes a heck of a lot of oxygen to talk."

Read the transcripts via DocumentCloud.